


Roses & Peonies

by aquilaofarkham



Category: Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed III - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, F/M, Flowers, Fluff, Interracial Relationship, Modern Era, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-09
Updated: 2016-04-09
Packaged: 2018-06-01 07:14:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6508111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aquilaofarkham/pseuds/aquilaofarkham
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Modern!AU one shot where Connor works as a tattoo artist and gives his love interest a flower tattoo.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Roses & Peonies

“What do you think?”

Madeleine stood in front of the full-length mirror, taking a good look at her right arm. It was only the pen outline but it was enough to get her excited for what was about to come next.

“So far I love it,” she said with a beaming expression.

“Do you want it further up or down?”

“No, it looks great right where it is. I’m surprised you didn’t want to try free handing the design.”

“I am not _that_ good,” Connor scoffed. “I still need some guidance.” _And I want this one to be perfect._ Once he was finished preparing his tattoo gun, he gestured for Madeleine to sit down in the leather chair. “Ready?”

“Yes, I’m ready.” She replied, making herself comfortable.

“It will sting a lot at first, so I will try to go as slowly and gently as possible. And I know that you are eager but please remember to stay still until I am finished.”

“I’m sorry,” Madeleine giggled. “But would you prefer it if I was a nervous mess instead?”

“No, of course not. I am actually glad that you are like this right now. It will make things much easier for the both of us.”

After making sure that she was absolutely ready, Connor got started, his hand steady and his eyes focused. Madeleine couldn’t help but wince as the buzzing needle touched her skin, but she soon remembered to take deep breaths and relax. For her first ever tattoo, it was going to be very detailed. They were only on the outline stage; Connor convinced her to book a second appointment just for the colouring. She felt very lucky, not to mention honoured, to have such a talented artist with her.

Madeleine had always loved the parlour Connor worked at. There were no claustrophobic stations or pretentious judgment; everyone was welcome and the entire place had a vibe that was both professional and laid back. When Madeleine finished her own daily shifts at work, she didn’t usually go home to wait for Connor. More often than not, she visited the parlour and spent her time gazing at all the different designs from each artist hanging up on the walls until he finished taking care of his clients.

“If you keep craning your head like that, your neck will get sore.” Connor remarked just as he was past halfway done.

“I can’t help it! I want to see how it looks.”

“Be patient. You are doing very well, by the way.”

“Thank you,” Madeleine said, slightly flinching as he started working on a tender area. She didn’t say much after that; she wanted Connor to remain absolutely focused with no distractions.

While tattooing was his preferred occupation, it certainly wasn’t his only skill. He spent some days at an old garage run by a long time friend of his family. Connor and Robert Faulkner fixed everything from Harleys to vintage cars. Other nights he helped bartend at a nearby pub, but he mostly did it just to talk with the owner of the place (who also happened to be his grandfather Edward).

Meanwhile Madeleine was more than happy working at an herbal apothecary that doubled as a flower shop. It was small but rather popular, especially with college students and young women who lived in the area.

Because of their respective jobs, Connor and Madeleine’s apartment quickly turned into a mess of various art supplies and plants scattered in nearly every room. Seeing her walk in through the door with large bouquets of flowers and herbs in her arms was definitely not an uncommon sight. But they enjoyed their communal mess. Connor loved all the different fragrances wafting through the air while Madeleine always peeked over his shoulder every time he worked on new designs.

Another hour passed before Connor wiped some excess ink off her arm and turned off the tattoo gun. “All finished. How do you feel?”

“Like I really need to stand up,” Madeleine joked. Taking hold of his hand, she lifted herself off the chair and onto her feet. Upon seeing the tattoo in all its completed glory, Madeleine was almost speechless.

“Oh wow…” She exclaimed quietly. The longer she stared at it in the mirror, the bigger her smile grew. “Connor this is beautiful. It’s exactly what I wanted, thank you so much.” Close to her shoulder was a blooming wild rose, one of Madeleine’s favourite flowers, surrounded by ferns and smaller clusters of raspberry blossoms.

“This is only the outline. I still need to colour everything.”

“I still love it and I can’t wait to see it in full colour.” After wrapping it up just until it eventually healed, Madeleine stood on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around Connor’s neck. She gave him a brief but sweet kiss as a second way of saying thank you. “Do you think I should get as many as you have?”

“That is your decision. But I will gladly give you as many as you like. Right now, you are one of my best customers.”

“I feel honoured,” Madeleine smiled. While her question wasn’t really one to be taken so seriously, she did admire the many, many tattoos that covered Connor’s arms, chest, and back. All of them differed in size, design, and colour yet there were a few special ones that stood out the most. The green turtle inspired by his mother Ziio on his bicep, the large anchor most likely picked out by Edward on his back, and the pair of spread eagle wings across his chest.

“It didn’t even hurt that much after a while,” Madeleine said while Connor closed up the parlour.

“Just wait. It will start to feel like a bad sunburn soon enough. But no matter how uncomfortable it is, try not to scratch or pick at it.”

“I won’t, I promise. I am getting excited for next time, though.”

Connor smiled, looking down at her as they walked out. “As am I.” 

**\--**

Little more than a week later and Madeleine stepped into the tattoo parlour for her second appointment. Upon hearing the front door chimes ring, Connor’s head perked up. He quickly cleaned up his disorganized workstation before going over to greet her. They kissed, checked in on how the tattoo was fairing so far, and then talked about the particular shades of colour she wanted. But something else caught Connor’s eyes. In Madeleine’s hands was a moderately sized bouquet of dark red peonies and forget me nots.

“What is the special occasion?”

“I wanted to thank you again for the absolutely fantastic work you’ve done. Plus I thought your desk needed a little more colour. Do you like them?”

“I do. But you did not need to go through such trouble. Your enthusiasm is more than enough.”

“It’s no trouble whatsoever. Remember, I work with these things for a living.”

Connor chuckled in agreement. “Wait right here, I will go put these in some water.”

He did some digging around in the back room and managed to find a suitable glass jar for the flowers. Connor placed them on his desk, making space amongst the messy ink containers and piles of papers filled with unfinished tattoo ideas. They were very beautiful and did add some much-needed levity to his station. Not just that, but inspiration as well.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for this past Valentine's Day, also the reason why I chose the flower tattoo is because in this modern!au my AC3 original character Madeleine Barrett works at a flower shop/apothecary. If you want to know more about her, feel free to ask me anything at either aquilaofarkham.tumblr.com or discendo.tumblr.com!


End file.
